Table 2.
Correlation between plasma sTGFβR3 and clinicopathologic parameters.
| Plasma sTGFβR3 in HCC Patients (n = 100) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Clinical Parameter | ≤9.4 ng/ml | >9.4 ng/ml | p Value |
| Gender (n) | 0.554 | ||
| Male | 61 | 20 | |
| Female | 15 | 3 | |
| Age (years) | 0.631 | ||
| ≤60 | 44 | 15 | |
| >60 | 32 | 8 | |
| Hepatitis B carrier | 0.447 | ||
| Positive | 66 | 21 | |
| Negative | 10 | 1 | |
| AFP (ng/mL) | 0.141 | ||
| Abnormal (>20) | 46 | 9 | |
| Normal (<20) | 29 | 13 | |
| Bilirubin level (μmol/l) | <0.001 ** | ||
| Abnormal (>20) | 11 | 14 | |
| Normal (≤20) | 65 | 9 | |
| Aspartate transaminase (U/L) | 0.11 | ||
| Abnormal (>40) | 52 | 20 | |
| Normal (≤40) | 24 | 3 | |
| Alanine transaminase (U/L) | 0.81 | ||
| Abnormal (>45) | 46 | 13 | |
| Normal (≤45) | 30 | 10 | |
| Size of tumor (cm) | 0.012 *^ | ||
| Large (>5) | 55 | 10 | |
| Small (≤5) | 20 | 13 | |
| No of nodules (n) | 0.335 | ||
| Multiple (>1) | 32 | 7 | |
| Single (1) | 42 | 16 | |
| UICC grade | 0.004 **^ | ||
| Early stage (1,2) | 12 | 11 | |
| Late stage (3,4) | 63 | 12 | |
| AJCC grade (stage) | 0.017 *^ | ||
| I | 11 | 8 | |
| II | 32 | 6 | |
| IIIA | 24 | 3 | |
| Ex- and in-tra hepatic recurrence | 0.481 | ||
| Present | 46 | 12 | |
| Absent | 30 | 11 | |
Analyzed by Fisher’s exact test. * p <0.05, ** p < 0.01. ^ Negatively correlation, i.e., Pearson’s R value < 0. # Median age of sTGFβR3 expression was 57 for ≤9.4 ng/mL group and 56.5 for >9.4 ng/mL.